The police early on Wednesday arrested a 19-year-old youth from Ghazipur district in Uttar Pradesh on charges of sharing a photograph of a religious place with objectionable comments on Facebook.

The photograph was taken off the site and as a precautionary measure heavy police force deployed in sensitive areas, soon after the matter came to light around midnight Tuesday. The police also took the community into confidence and assured them that the matter would be investigated properly.

SP (city) Hafiz-ur-Rehman said: “Avinash Singh, a resident of Chandan Nagar Colony, was arrested soon after the incident came to light. The situation is normal and the matter is being investigated in detail”. Singh has been booked under various sections of the Information Technology Act.

“The accused is said to be a student, though his educational qualification is not quite clear. He was named in the FIR, which also names several others. We are investigating as to who first uploaded the objectionable photograph,” Circle Officer (City), Kamal Kishore said, adding that they have contacted Facebook administrators to seek details as to where did the photo first surface.